The Chancellor Must End Austerity Now – It Is Punishing an Entire Generation

Stiglitz, J., Ha-Joon, C., Graeber, D., Pettigor, A., Dorling, D., Sassen, S. et al. (2017) The chancellor must end austerity now – it is punishing an entire generation, letter, The Guardian, November 19th, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/nov/19/the-chancellor-must-end-austerity- now-it-is-punishing-an-entire-generation The chancellor must end austerity now – it is punishing an entire generation Alongside the human costs, cuts have hurt our economy, and we’ve now reached a dangerous tipping point, say Joseph Stiglitz, Ha-Joon Chang and 111 others Public sector workers protest against cuts. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Letters, Sunday 19 November 2017 19.11 GMT Seven years of austerity has destroyed lives. An estimated 30,000 excess deaths can be linked to cuts in NHS spending and the social care crisis in 2015 alone. The number of food parcels given to impoverished Britons has grown from tens of thousands in 2010 to over a million. Children are suffering from real-terms spending cuts in up to 88% of schools. The public sector pay cap has meant that millions of workers are struggling to make ends meet. 1 Alongside the mounting human costs, austerity has hurt our economy. The UK has experienced its weakest recovery on record and suffers from poor levels of investment, leading to low productivity and falling wages. This government has missed every one of its own debt reduction targets because austerity simply doesn’t work. The case for cuts has been grounded in ideology and untruths. We’ve been told public debt is the outcome of overspending on public services rather than bailing out the banks. We’ve been told that while the government can find money for the DUP, we cannot afford investment in public services and infrastructure. We’ve been told that unless we “tighten our belts” we’ll saddle future generations with debt – but it’s the onslaught of cuts that is punishing an entire generation. Given the unprecedented economic uncertainty posed by Brexit negotiations and the private sector’s failure to invest, we cannot risk exacerbating an already anaemic recovery with further public spending cuts. We’ve reached a dangerous tipping point. Austerity has failed the British people and the British economy. We demand the chancellor ends austerity now. Joseph Stiglitz Professor, Columbia University Ha-Joon Chang Professor, University of Cambridge David Graeber Professor of anthropology, LSE Ann Pettifor Director, Prime Economics Danny Dorling Professor, University of Oxford Saskia Sassen Professor, Columbia University Sir Richard Jolly Emeritus professor, Institute of Development Studies Mike Savage Co-director of International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics David Blanchflower Professor of economics, Dartmouth College Richard Murphy Director of Tax Research UK, University of London Kate Pickett Professor of epidemiology, University of York 2 Richard G Wilkinson Emeritus professor of public health, University of Nottingham Beverley Skeggs Academic director of International Inequalities Institute Atlantic fellows programme, LSE Diane Elson Emeritus professor, University of Essex Frances Stewart Director for research on inequality, human security and ethnicity, University of Oxford Simon Wren-Lewis Professor of economic policy, Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Malcolm Sawyer Emeritus professor of economics, University of Leeds Victoria Chick Emeritus professor of economics, University College London John Weeks Emeritus professor of economics, Soas Gurminder Bhambra Professor of sociology, Warwick University Jason Hickel Department of anthropology, Goldsmiths University of London Özlem Onaran Department of international business and economics, University of Greenwich Howard Reed Director, Landman Economics Valpy FitzGerald Emeritus professor of international development finance, University of Oxford Ruth Pearson Emeritus professor, University of Leeds Len McCluskey General secretary, Unite David Prentis General secretary, Unison Tim Roache General secretary, GMB Mark Serwotka General secretary, PCS Manuel Cortes General secretary, TSSA Sally Hunt General Secretary, UCU Kevin Courtney Co-general secretary, NEU Mary Bousted Co-general secretary, NEU Ronnie Draper General secretary, BFAWU Horace Trubridge General secretary, MU Dave Ward General secretary, CWU Mick Whelan General secretary, Aslef Doug Nicholls General secretary, General Federation of Trade Unions Matt Wrack General secretary, Fire Brigade’s Union Shakira Martin General secretary, NUS Janet Davies General secretary, Royal College of Nurses Radical Housing Network UK Uncut Sam Tarry President, Class Faiza Shaheen Director, CLASS Omar Khan Director, Runnymede Trust Mary-Ann Stephenson Co-director, Women’s Budget Group David Hillman Chair, Robin Hood Tax Asad Rehman Director, War on Want Sarah-Jayne Clifton Director, Jubilee Debt Campaign Sam Fairbairn National secretary, People’s Assembly Against Austerity Linda Burnip Founder, Disabled People against Cuts 3 Fran Boait Executive director, Positive Money Will Snell Director, Tax Justice UK Miatta Fahnbulleh Chief executive, New Economics Foundation Kayleigh Garthwaite Fellow, department of social policy, sociology and criminology, University of Birmingham Ruth Patrick Postdoctoral researcher, School of Law and Social Justice, University of Liverpool Tracey Jensen Lecturer in media and cultural studies, Lancaster University Stewart Lansley Visiting fellow, Bristol University Andrew Cumbers Professor, Adam Smith Business School Prem Sikka Professor of accounting, University of Essex Christine Cooper Professor of accounting and finance, University of Strathclyde Jo Michell Associate professor of economics, UWE Bristol David Spencer Professor of economics and political economy, University of Leeds Alfredo Saad-Filho Professor, Soas Simon Reid-Henry Reader in geography, Queen Mary University of London Mary Mellor Emeritus professor, Northumbria University Hugh Willmott Professor of management, University of London Steve Keen Professor of economics, Kingston University London Susan Himmelweit Emeritus professor of economics, Open University Gideon Calder Senior lecturer in public health, policy and social sciences, Swansea University Simon Mohun Emeritus professor of political economy, Queen Mary University of London Klaus Nielsen Professor of institutional economics, Birkbeck University of London Pritam Singh Professor of economics, Oxford Brookes Business School Matthew Watson Professor of political economy, University of Warwick Mary V Wrenn Professor, UWE Bristol Geoffrey Hodgson Research professor of business studies, University of Hertfordshire Daniela Gabor Professor of economics and macro-finance, UWE Bristol Gary Dymski Professor of applied economics, Leeds University Business School Tony Thirlwall Professor of applied economics, University of Kent Kalim Siddiqui Senior lecturer, University of Huddersfield Stuart Holland Economist, University of Coimbra David Bailey Professor of industrial strategy, Aston Business School Roberto Veneziani School of Economics and Finance, Queen Mary University of London Neil Lancastle Director of Finance and Banking Research Centre, De Montfort University Michael Lipton Research professor of economics, University of Sussex Marjorie Mayo Emeritus professor of community development, Goldsmiths Andrew Simms Fellow, New Economics Foundation Leslie Huckfield Academic and activist, Yunus Centre for Social Business and Health Hugo Radice Economist, University of Leeds Satoshi Miyamura Senior lecturer, Soas Sue Konzelmann Director of the London Centre for Corporate Governance and Ethics, Birkbeck University of London Bruce Conin Professor of economic sociology, University of Greenwich David Hall Professor, public services international research unit, University of Greenwich 4 Jonathan Perraton Senior lecturer in economics, University of Sheffield Teddy Brett Professor of international development, LSE Robert Calvert Jump Lecturer, UWE Bristol Jeff Powell Senior lecturer in economics, University of Greenwich Kat Chzhen Academic, co-editor of Children of Austerity Dominic Harrison Visiting professor of public health, University of Central Lancashire Lisa McKenzie Lecturer in sociological practice, Middlesex University Satbir Singh Chief executive, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants Costas Lapavitsas Professor, Soas Engelbert Stockhammer Professor, Kingston University London Annette Hastings Professor of urban studies, University of Glasgow Ruth Lupton Professor of education, University of Manchester Kitty Stewart Associate professor of social policy, LSE Canon Giles Fraser Parish priest, St Mary’s Newington Anna Minton Programme leader MRes architecture: Reading the Neoliberal City, University of East London Sam Friedman Associate professor of sociology, LSE Pilgrim Tucker Community organiser, Grenfell Action Group Canon Steve Saxby Chair, Unite Faith Workers Paul Parker Recording clerk, Quakers in Britain 5 .

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